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Each year, for the past 89 years, the New York Stock Exchange has decorated a massive Christmas tree placed in front of its majestic building on Broad Street in lower Manhattan. This year's tree is a 45-foot Norway spruce adorned with 3,500 white lights and 1,000 multicolored balls, and topped with a six-foot star. Due to the magic of Christmas, the tree communicates with people via Twitter, using the handle @NYXmastree.

This year, like last, the Striking Price asked the tweeting tree for investment advice. The tree tweeted "Stick to your financial plan. With the #fiscalcliff and #endoftheworld looming, you may be tempted to go out on a limb, but if you fall, you'll hit every branch on the way down!"

For the non-Twitterati, those hash tags aren't typos but indications of trending Twitter discussions. And for the rest of us, that's pretty good advice.

THE CHICAGO BOARD OPTIONS Exchange's Volatility Index, or VIX, stands at 16, below its long-term average of 20. At current levels, it would be wise to buy puts on the
SPDR S&P 500 TrustSPY 0.2931379080612925%SPDR S&P 500 ETF TrustU.S.: NYSE Arca225.81
0.660.2931379080612925%
/Date(1481309063962-0600)/
Volume (Delayed 15m)
:
34451446
P/E Ratio
N/AMarket Cap
N/A
Dividend Yield
1.916691169958374% Rev. per Employee
N/AMore quote details and news »SPYinYour ValueYour ChangeShort position
(ticker: SPY) that would rise in value if stocks fell 5% to 10% in the next few months. Money spent to hedge a portfolio could be a wise investment, even a tree would agree.

FEW FIRMS KNOW MORE ABOUT managing risk than
Interactive BrokersIBKR 0.35723398826231184%Interactive Brokers Group Inc.U.S.: NasdaqUSD39.33
0.140.35723398826231184%
/Date(1481308992796-0600)/
Volume (Delayed 15m)
:
125251
P/E Ratio
26.771867773092097Market Cap
2664257662.61452
Dividend Yield
1.016260162601626% Rev. per Employee
1321990More quote details and news »IBKRinYour ValueYour ChangeShort position
(IBKR), parent of market maker Timber Hill. Timber Hill is so expert at trading options, and the brokerage firm so successful, that Interactive Brokers is expected to pay a special dividend of $1.79 or more before year end. Another reason, at least for the timing of the special, is to pay out funds before a likely rise in 2013 in dividend-taxation rates. Thomas Peterffy, who owns about 90% of the company, did not respond to a request for comment.

When Barron's last alerted readers to a possible special-dividend opportunity at Interactive Brokers in late July, the company's shares were trading at $13.36. We advised buying the stock and selling the September $13 put to buy more stock if shares declined below the $13 strike price. The stock has since advanced to $15 and change.

This time around, options-selling is tougher, as put and call prices that expire in a month or so mostly trade for under 20 cents. The amount of money to be gained isn't worth the risk, so stick with the stock.

Interactive Brokers has been down this road before. In December 2010, amid talk that the dividend-tax rate would change the following year, the company paid a special of $1 billion, or $1.79 a share. At the end of this year's second quarter, total equity of $5 billion was just about even with the level prior to that payment, another reason to think history might repeat.

If Peterffy decides against it, you'll still own shares of a company that could prosper even if the economy goes over the fiscal cliff and options volatility surges. Ironically, such conditions are favorable for Timber Hill, which provides most of Interactive Broker's earnings.

EVENT-DRIVEN TRADING IS ALIVE and well in the options market.
CVS CaremarkCVS 2.971450518499552%CVS Health Corp.U.S.: NYSEUSD80.431
2.3212.971450518499552%
/Date(1481309063962-0600)/
Volume (Delayed 15m)
:
3618274
P/E Ratio
17.235051723397863Market Cap
83299548194.848
Dividend Yield
2.1169292073967996% Rev. per Employee
710700More quote details and news »CVSinYour ValueYour ChangeShort position
(CVS) is hosting an analyst day on Thursday that Susquehanna Financial Group is telling clients could move the stock. CVS said in November that investors would receive an update on CVS' growth strategy.

With CVS just under $47, Chris Jacobs, Susquehanna's derivatives strategist, advises buying December $47 calls as a way to get low-cost exposure to any move. The calls recently traded around 56 cents. Last year, CVS stock rose about 9% on positive earnings guidance and dividend boost.

The most widely owned CVS option is the January $50 call. This suggests some traders expect CVS to overtake its 52-week high of $49.23 set in early October.